Stocking construction



1952 s. REINSTEIN STOCKING CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 4, 1950 INVENTOR SOLREMSTEIH ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 29, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE2,583,748v

STOCKING CONSTRUCTION Sol Reinstein, Philadel hia Pa. ApplicationFebruary 4, 1950; Serial No. 142,371

5 Claims. I

This invention relates generally to womens hosiery and more particularlyto a new and use- 'ful improvement in the construction of full fashionedhosiery and such seamless hosieryas is provided with a. rear leg seam insimulation of that which characterizes full-fashioned hosiery.

Women wearing either full-fashioned hosiery or circular knit hosierywith mock leg seams have lon experienced difiiculty. in centering theseams lengthwise along the rear of the legs. Although the unsightlyappearance of an improperly placed stocking seam is distasteful andembarrassing to fastidious women, it is difilcult and often impossibleto. maintain the seam properly centered due to the absence of anyreadily observable indication that the stocking is improperly fitted onthe leg. Even though the stocking may be applied originally with care toproperly aline the scam, the variable pull upon the stocking welt of theconventionally employed hosiery supporters and even the flexing of theleg muscles during wear of the stockings soon causes disarrangement ofthe stocking leg seams, often without any knowledge thereof by thewearer.

Having in mind the foregoing, it is among the objects of the presentinvention to provide worn ens hosiery with indicia upon the front of thestocking leg which is readily discernable by the wearer of the stockingto indicate the condition of the leg seam, such indicia bein however ofsuch inconspicuous character as to be observable onlyby the wearer ofthe stocking and then only by such wearer looking downwardly along thefront of her leg.

A further object of the present invention is to provide in aconventionally seamed stocking such seam-straightening marking meansast-will not mar the appearance of the stocking and which may beincorporated in the stocking with out increasin its cost of manufacture.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will appear morefully hereinafter, it being understood that the present inventionconsists in the combination, construction, locaall) 2 cable, sal'dstocking being characterized by the provision of a longitudinallyextending rear seam, such as the normal seam of full-fashioned hosieryor the mock seam of circular knit seam-l less hosiery;

Figure 2 is a perspective of the stockingthe leg of which is frontallyprovided with longitudinally' spaced seam-straightening indicia inaccordance with the principles of the present invention; and

Figures 3, 4 and 5 are greatly enlarged fragmentaryviews of the knittedfabric of the stock ing illustrating several different forms of stitcheswhich may be employed to produce the seamstraightening indicia of thepresent invention.

As has been previously indicated, the present invention is applicable toall wome-ns hosiery wherein the leg portion is plain knit in the form ofa flat fabric (full-fashioned) adapted to have its opposite edges unitedto form a longitudinally extending rear seam or in the form of acircular knit fabric (seamless) having a mock seam formed alon its rearin simulation of the full fashioned seam. Figure l is illustrative ofsuch conventionally knit hosiery, the le portion l0 thereof beingprovided with the usual welt l l' and with a longitudinally extendingrear seam l2, either full-fashioned or simulated.

In accordance with the present invention, the leg portion ill of thestocking is frontally provided with a series of vertically spaced minuteindicia [3 arranged along a vertical line in diametric opposition to andparalleling the longitudinally extendin front seam. These indicia may"be incorporated in the knitted web ofthe stocking leg portion in theform of vertically spaced single tuck stitches I4 of the kindillustrated in Figure 3, or vertically spaced single picots or laterallytransferred needle-formed loops or stitches, l5 of the kind illustratedin Figure 4, or vertically spaced single laterally transferred sinkerwale loops 16 as shown in Figure 5. In lieu of the foregoing, any otherspecial individual stitches or loops different from the plain knittedloops of the le fabric may be incorporated therein at vertically spacedpoints along a single wale fronting the rear seam, the vertical spacingof such marking stitches or loops I3 being about two to three inchesapart along a line extending approximately from the knee to the instepregions of the stocking.

Where the stocking is knitted of synthetic yarn havin thermo-settingcharacteristics, such as nylon, the indicia marks l3 may be not only inthe form of special stitches or loops as above described, but also maybe formed by enlarging or stretching selected stitches of the leg fabricthrough the use of a suitably pointed die which, wheninserted into agiven loop of the knitted fabric while the same is subjected to heat,imparts to the loop a set configuration which is distinguishable fromthe surrounding knitted loops of the fabric. By varying thecross-sectional shape of the fabric-penetrating end of the die, acorrespondingly shaped opening may be provided in the fabric at each ofthe predeterminedly selected points I 3.

The character of these seam-straightening marks I3 is such that whilethey are individually inconspicuous and not discernable when thestocking is viewed on the leg by a person other than the wearer thereof,to the wearer of the stocking the several marks, when viewed lengthwiseof the stocking from the knee toward the instep regions thereof, becomereadily discernable and provide a clear and definite indication as tothe condition of the leg seam. Obviously, so long as the guide marks 13are alined along a line of sight extending centrally down the front ofthe leg, the leg seam 12 will be correspondingly centered along the backof the leg. Should any of the guide marks be laterally displaced fromthe hosiery wearer's line of sight, there would be indicated acorresponding displacement of the rear seam, which could be immediatelycorrected by the simple expedient of shifting the stocking on the leg toproperly aline the displaced guide marks, all without necessitating anyeifort on the part of the wearer of the stocking to directly view therear seam.

It will be understood that the present invention is susceptible ofvarious changes and modifications which may be made from time to timewithout departing from the general principles or real spirit thereof,and it is accordingly intended to claim the invention broadly, as wellas specifically, as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and useful is:

1. In a stocking having a plain knitted leg portion of regular stitchesprovided with a seam extending longitudinally along the rear thereof,indicia for indicating the condition of the seam along the leg of thewearer of the stocking,-said indicia being in the form ofbarelydiscernible marks arranged in vertically spaced relation along afrontal line of the stocking extending walewise of the stocking and indiametrically opposed relation to the rear seam thereof.

. 2. In a stocking having a plain knitted leg portion of regularstitches provided with a leg seam extending longitudinally along therear thereof, means for facilitating straightening of the seamlengthwise along the leg of the wearer of the stocking comprising aseries of barely discernable special stitches distinguishable from theregular stitches of the plain knitted fabric of the leg portion of thestocking, said special stitches being disposed at selected points spacedlongitudinally along a frontal wale of said fabric located indiametrically opposed relation to the rear seam of the stocking.

3. In a knitted stocking as defined in claim 2 wherein said specialstitches are in the form of tuck stitches.

4. In a knitted stocking as defined in claim 2 wherein said specialstitches are in the form of picot stitches formed by laterallytransferred loops.

5. In a stocking knitted of a synthetic yarn having thermosettingproperties, said stocking having a plain knitted leg portion of regularstitches provided with a seam extending along the rear thereof; a seriesof enlarged loops formed in Wale-wise spaced courses of the knittedstocking fabric at selected points alined along a line substantiallydiametrically opposed to the stocking seam and disposed substantially inthe vertical median plane of the stocking, said loops being set underheat and pressure to provide openings in the fabric constitutingseam-straightening indicia which are most readily discernible only whenviewed Wale-wise of the stocking.

SOL REINSTEIN! REFERENCES CITED The following references are of recordin the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 976,555 Costello Nov. 22, 19101,431,643 Fisher Oct. 10, 1922 1,721,390 Hadfield July 16, 19292,278,277 Mendelsohn Mar. 31, 1942 2,338,375 Donner Jan. 4, 19442,338,648 Sheppard Nov. 6, 1945 2,424,124 Seemuller July 15, 19472,469,961 Gottschalk May 10, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date350,638 Italy July 19, 1937 408,143 Great Britain Apr. 5, 1934 455,979Great Britain Oct.,30, 1936

